ABSTRACT
Initial interviews with survivors of sexual abuse and assault are a fragile time in the development of a therapeutic alliance. Under the stress of an initial interview, any component of sociocultural identity may serve as a sensitive and reflexive trigger of the survivor's defense operations. Clinicians' socioeconomic and cultural backgrounds orient their attention to particular categories of symptoms, assessment of severity of psychopathology, and consideration of what treatment is best suited for a given individual. Social biases about males and masculinity also exacerbate the harm and destructiveness men and boys are subjected to from their own families, friends, and community, especially once they have been victims of sexual abuse. Male survivors of sexual abuse often experience group therapy as a sociocultural environment radically different from their own family and cultural milieu, and this difference is the crux to healing through group therapy.
